Gulu Trip 2014

Greetings from Gulu, Uganda! Today was another busy day for our team filled with much learning and interacting with World Vision Volunteers. What an incredible day! We visited a farm where the Community Volunteers go into villages and teach the village people about planting healthy foods like sweet potatoes that have vitamin A and iron rich beans so that they are getting a balanced diet. We helped prepare sweet potato cakes and donuts along side the volunteers. This was a special treat for all of us as they are very yummy. Sweet potato cakes, donuts and sweet potato fries are made and sold at market as a way to earn income for the volunteers. Attached you see two photos of a sweet little girl who was initially very shy and stood back from us. I along with Michelle have been battling a little bit of a bug and we were feeling a little tired so we choose to stay back and sit with the children while the rest of the team went to see the garden. As you can see in the second photo, this little girl started walking towards me and singing softly. Eventually, she walked up to me and allowed me to hold her. I started singing Jesus Loves Me to her and very quickly the other children in the village ran over. Michelle and I then spent some wonderful time with them teaching them this song and how to sign "Yes, Jesus loves me, the bible tells me so." It was a joy to be able to hear them sing and watch their faces light up as we encouraged them. When they walked away and went off by themselves you could hear them softly singing the song we had just taught them. God is Good! We also had some great time with a Community Volunteer who works directly with the sponsored children. This man has volunteered in his village for World Vision for 18 years. He has such a great heart for the children and his community. These types of volunteers know the children you sponsor very well since they live in the same village. They are checking on them every other day or so and making sure things are going well. They then report back to World Vision staff on how the children are doing and if they need to assist any of the families or children in the village. Your sponsored children are being well taken care of by these faithful volunteers. One thing that I was impressed with is how many layers World Vision has in each aspect of working with the people of Gulu. They educate, teach and come along side the villages so that they can be self sustaining and not reliant on others. I walked away thinking World Vision does not do this for their gain in anyway, but truly for the least of these to instill pride, sense of community, a purpose, better health and quality of life. The week is flying by and tomorrow will be another packed day. Please continue to pray for our health, safety, stamina and opportunities to shine the love of Christ to everyone we encounter. Love, Jody